First Aid Corps

We will be reporting on lives saved around the world since our first documented life saved here in Singapore.

Glenn Koenen the Survivor with Daughter Cassaundra Koenen

At 10 a.m., about half an hour before graduation ceremonies were to begin at the Knapp Center in Des Moines, Koenen’s father, Glenn Koenen, slumped to the floor, suffering from a heart attack.

Someone shouted for help. Annie Swanson, an emergency room nurse from Minneapolis, was at the Knapp Center to see her niece, Molly Rafmussen, graduate. She leaped out of the stands and rushed to Glenn Koenen’s side.

He was dead and had no pulse, but I gave him CPR and chest compressions for about two minutes and he started to wake up, and then the defibrillator came,” Swanson told Tory Olson, a Drake spokeswoman. “We just improvised, and I’m so glad he lived.”

Drake staff members Michael Ball and Matt Miller and an unidentified doctor arrived with a defibrillator.

The machine shocked Koenen’s heart back to life.

Des Moines Fire Department medics took Koenen to Mercy Medical Center, where he was listed in serious condition and was scheduled for bypass surgery.

When Koenen stabilized, he groused that he wrecked daughter Cassaundra’s big day. A nurse contacted Drake officials, hoping someone from the school could deliver her diploma.

Drake President David Maxwell and a handful of Drake administrators visited Cassaundra Koenen and her father in his hospital room Saturday afternoon to present the younger Koenen, a native of St. Louis, with her degree in graphic design.

A teary-eyed Cassaundra Koenen thanked Maxwell.

We will be reporting on lives saved around the world since our first documented life saved here in Singapore.

31-year-old Jason Lewis, a student at Daytona State College’s law enforcement academy, earned his certification on Tuesday night and on Wednesday helped revive a coach who had collapsed at the school’s fitness center.

“I just went over to see if he was okay, and I saw him go down,’ said Tosi describing his reaction when he rushed to save Mike Phelan.

Phelan, a faculty member at Daytona State College, collapsed at the school’s gym on Wednesday. Tosi, and two students who were nearby, rush to him.

Baseball coach Mike Phelan was not breathing.

“We had some students who were qualified, doing CPR on him. They did an excellent job,” Tosi said.

Tosi ran over and grabbed the automated external defibrillator, or AED .

“You’ve got two, and there’s an electrical lead to it,” he said. “We all kind of worked as a team and got it on him.”

It was the first time, an AED had ever been used since the college acquired the devices.

“You’re a little nervous and all, but you just kind of remember your training.”

As for the faculty member who collapsed. One shock was administered and he regained consciousness.

“He was in surprisingly goods spirits,” said Tosi.

Phelan is recovering at Halifax Medical Center in Daytona Beach.

We will be reporting on lives saved around the world since our first documented life saved here in Singapore.

The Texas House adjourned abruptly Tuesday night after state Rep. Edmund Kuempel, R-Seguin, was found collapsed in a Capitol elevator.

A House sergeant at arms, Jennifer Irby, said she had found Kuempel, 66, in an elevator about 10:30 p.m. It’s unknown how long he was in the elevator before he was found.

Rep. John Zerwas, R-Richmond, an anesthesiologist who was called to help revive Kuempel.

Rep. Edmund Kuempel the Survivor

Zerwas said that when he reached Kuempel, he was unresponsive, was not breathing and had no pulse. Zerwas said he oversaw CPR until EMS arrived.

Zerwas and paramedics used CPR and a defibrillator to resuscitate Kuempel, shocking him eight times before they established a steady pulse.

By the time Kuempel left for the hospital, he had a heart rhythm and a pulse, and though he was not breathing entirely on his own, he had “some spontaneous breathing,” Zerwas said.

Lawmakers in the House immediately adjourned upon learning of Kuempel’s collapse. They huddled, many crying, praying and waiting outside the Capitol elevator shaft where Kuempel was found.

He is reported, as of Wednesday morning,to be in stable condition but that the next 24 to 48 hours will be critical for him.

Updates

State Rep. Edmund Kuempel says he’ll be back for the end of the session festivities.

“There’s no question that I will be back on sine die, if I have any strength at all,” Kuempel said Monday.

“I feel good now — weak — but good,” he said. He jokes about returning to his birth weight after having lost so much weight in recent days.

“I could be back for hugs and kisses for sine die,” said Kuempel, known for his wit and daily kisses for his female colleagues.

We will be reporting on lives saved around the world since our first documented life saved here in Singapore.

Mr and Mrs Seifer

Adam and Jane Olsen were at Jesse Lee April 19, preparing for the baptism of their children Allyson, 3, and infant, Jazlyn. The baptism had been originally scheduled in May but was moved at the last minute. They had arrived at the service a little early with a group of family and friends to make sure they had seats.

The Olsens’ friend, Katie White, was outside the church with her daughter as Ms. Seifer collapsed. Ms. White called for help.

Mr. Olsen is a cardiology physician assistant and several other family members are in the medical field, including his cousin Joe Lodato, who is an EMT in Westchester.

Mr. Lodato began mouth-to-mouth and Mr. Olsen administered chest compression.

Paramedics Michael Drake, Capt. Rick Lawlor, medic Bob Coppola and Nick D’Angelo arrived with an ambulance carrying state-of-the-art cardiopulmonary resuscitation equipment.

EMTs delivered defibrillation three times on the scene and got Ms. Seifer’s pulse back.

“You were feisty — that’s what they called you,” Chief Burford said to Ms. Seifer at their home last week. “You tried to take the breathing tube out so you could breath on your own — that’s a very good sign. You weren’t even in the hospital yet when the doctor took the tube out.”

“I never thought I’d see you again,” Mr. Seifer told his wife. “Her friends came here to tell me she had no pulse and was on her way to the hospital.”

When Mr. Seifer arrived his wife was awake but a little confused.

“If a defibrillator had been there we could have gotten her back even sooner,” he said.

“They [rescue workers] jump-started my heart,” Ms. Seifer said. “It was an electrical failure of the body.”

“It was truly miraculous,” Mr. Seifer said.

We will be reporting on lives saved around the world since our first documented life saved here in Singapore.

Victor Quick was at Antioch Baptist Church on March 1 when he “fell out.”

Quick is the city of Graham’s utilities director. Members of the church and some who were also members of the White Cross Fire Department leapt into action, performing CPR.

That immediate action was credited with saving Quick’s life.

On Tuesday, the city council issued proclamations honoring the 12 people who “participated in saving Victor Quick’s life.” They included David Atwater, pastor of Antioch Baptist Church; Kay Hammond, church member; Jerry Lloyd, church member and chief of the White Cross Fire Department; Warren Atwater, deputy chief and church member; Greg Tilley and Robert Smith, retired from White Cross and church members; Jeff Mooney, captain and Jason Andrews, lieutenant at White Cross; and first responders David Nichols, Tony Blake, Karen Durham and Chris Miller. Miller was in church that morning to be baptized.

“The doctor says there was no damage to my heart,” Quick said and then joshed, “even with a broken sternum and four ribs” from treatment.

Quick said he was in a controlled coma for a few days and credited the defibrillators with saving his life.

Lloyd said the first responders used a defibrillator three times on Quick to get a response.